Tribute honors first responders and victims of 9/11 attacks

By Erik CliburnMoberly Monitor-Index

Wednesday

Sep 12, 2018 at 4:11 PM

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened 17 years ago, and current high school seniors were either too young to remember or not even born yet. Organizers of Tuesday’s Annual Patriot Day Dinner and Tribute took up the theme “May We Never Forget” to teach young people the magnitude of the catastrophe and the national sense of patriotism and unity it caused.

Patriot Day Chair Valinda Freed said it was important to keep the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks alive, especially in the youth who do not have a memory of the event.

“It’s amazing that when America faces tragedy, we become stronger. We become more unified,” Freed said. “I think we need to take that from the memories tonight. Just remembering how close we came to each other, and appreciating what we had. ... To love our fellow and to try and take care of each other.”

The tribute was held at the Timber Lake Christian Church. First responders, their guests and other attendees were served dinner after the National Anthem, sung by Moberly High School sophomore Shelby Noel, and Pledge of Allegiance. Noel also performed “America the Beautiful”.

First responders were honored at the event. Members from Moberly Fire Department, Randolph County Ambulance District, the five rural fire districts, Air Evac Lifeteam 119, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the Randolph County Coroner, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Moberly, Clark and Huntsville Police Departments were all present.

Following the dinner, Freed gave a presentation on the timeline of the attacks. Two slideshows were shown, the first honoring civilians killed in the attacks and the second honoring the first responders that died.

Patriot Day President Theresa Sander said that even after 17 years, the pictures and videos of the attacks are still heart-wrenching to see.

“Every time I come to this event and I see the presentation, I am moved to tears,” Sander said. “I remember where I was, when I heard what was going on, and as we watched the events on TV throughout the day. … It was clear that there was going to be no survivors, no one to tell us what it was like to have lived through the actual event. Except for those who responded afterward.”

After the event, several first responders spoke about their experience during the 9/11 attacks.

Moberly firefighter Nicholas Richards was only seven years old when the attacks took place. He said that the period was a confusing time, because he didn’t fully understand the situation.

“That day I was in school, and teachers left the room,” Richards said. “Everything got really quite. They came back in to tell us that school was being dismissed early. My mom came and got us, and we started watching on TV. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on, I didn’t understand what any of it meant. I just knew that my mom was scared, so we were supposed to be scared.”

Moberly Fire Chief George Albert said that interest of public safety jobs has varied since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“After [the attacks] happened, there was a lot of pride that came into the public safety services to where a lot of people wanted to get into those [positions],” Albert said. “You’re starting to see that people aren’t coming into the profession as much.”

He also said that funding for many fire departments saw a sharp spike after the attacks, but has since decreased.

Randolph County Sheriff Mark Nichols said that he initially thought the first attack on the World Trade Center was only an accident until he and other deputies saw the second plane strike on television. “We knew, at that time, that we were under attack,” he said.

Randolph County Ambulance District Director Clay Joiner said he did not even believe what was happening.

“I was on the way to work too,” he said. “I didn’t have the radio on in the truck, and I hadn’t had the TV on before it left,” Joiner said. “When I got in, my office staff told me, and, honestly, I didn’t believe them. Until I turned on the TV and saw it, I thought they were mixed up or pulling my leg.”

Joiner said the attacks made everyone a lot more aware of the possibility that similar events could occur on a large scale.

“I do think before 9/11, we were mainly concerned about our own little area, and concerned with things that weren’t that big,” Joiner said. “Now, we’re all concerned with, ‘What if something big happens here’.”

Moberly Police Chief Troy Link said that law enforcement training training and the perception around terrorist attacks have changed over the last 17 years.

“We had a lot of serious conversations … a lot of serious training went on about soft targets and things of that nature,” Link said. “Here in the Midwest, we always thought we were a little insulated… but between 2001 and now, that’s not the case. We could have, maybe not to that magnitude, a terrorist-related attack almost anywhere.”

Link said that the events like the Patriot Day Tribute are important, because they help people come together and preserve the memory of those who died in the attacks.

“I think it was another one of those events that was a terrible loss of life, a tragedy,” Link said. “The United States had never experienced this type of thing. … It brought people together. It sure highlighted the work and the conditions in which emergency services work in. If we can pay tribute to those folks who laid down their lives … then we should do so.”

ecliburn@moberlymonitor.com

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